Celebrating World Book Day 2022
World Book Day changes lives through a love of books and shared reading, and by offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, World Book Day is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. The day plays an important role in ensuring that more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, develops a life-long habit of reading for pleasure.
This year, the World Book Day activities in Wales include:
- New Welsh-language £1 book by renowned Welsh author, poet and children’s TV star Anni Llŷn – Lledrith yn y Llyfrgell (Y Lolfa)
- Fun and colourful resources filled with ideas of how to celebrate with a reading-inspired party to mark the 25th birthday celebrations
- Competition on Books Council of Wales social media channels to win a stack of 25 books
- Sponsored competition on Awr Fawr Cyw (S4C) where children and schools are encouraged to send photos of their World Book Day celebrations and costumes. The prizes include a free school visit by Bardd Plant Cymru, Casi Wyn.
To make it easy for everyone to take part in World Book Day 2022 and to encourage a celebration of reading, there will also be a suite of online resources available on the World Book Day website, including activity sheets and discussion guides for teachers, parents and carers.
Alongside this, the Books Council is encouraging people to go along to their local bookshop or library to discover which books capture their imagination. There will also be a range of activities in the lead-up to and on the day itself, including a widespread You Are A Reader social media campaign, where World Book Day legacy authors, influencers and talent from TV, film, music and literature will share their favourite stories and encourage children and their families to find themselves in books and enjoy reading together regularly.
Following a long period of postponing and cancelling events due to Coronavirus, it is wonderful to see that many events can go ahead as scheduled to celebrate this year. Recently, Literature Wales launched the Writers of Wales Database, and its Inspiring Communities Fund. Literature Wales’ mission is to inspire communities, develop writers and celebrate Wales’ Literary Culture. The Writers of Wales Database delivers these aims by offering a new service for Wales’ writers as well as its creative audiences and readers. Similarly, the Inspiring Communities Fund funding scheme supports our vision of a Wales where literature empowers, improves and brightens lives, by providing funding towards writers’ fees, enabling literary events to take place and inspire audiences across the country. On the Literature Wales website, the What’s On section includes a variety of Literary events organised across Wales – from book launches to creative writing workshops. Take a look at which events have been organised in your area or online to mark World Book Day this year.
In addition, Literature Wales has launched a programme of courses at Tŷ Newydd Writers Centre for 2022, which includes an array of courses for both established writers, and new writers. The full programme is available here, and there are both residential and day courses available, as well as online taster sessions. If you are eager to start writing your own book or are keen to continue developing your work – book your space now on one of our courses.